Learning disabled U graduate wins accommodations on LSAT

A 22-year-old Minnetonka man with a learning disability who asked for accommodations to take the Law School Admission Test and was twice denied has received the opportunity to take the exam as the result of a government settlement.

Among the requests by the unidentifed 2009 University of Minnesota graduate that will now be accommodated: More time to take the LSAT, permission to use his own computer for essay answers and use of an alternative sheet for filling in other answers.

The Justice Department settlement announced Tuesday resulted from an investigation by the U.S. attorney's office in Minnesota into whether the Law School Admission Council violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by failing to provide testing accommodations to the student.

The student wanted to enroll in law school and requested the testing accommodations. He submitted supporting documents, including evidence of past accommodations he had received for test taking and documents from health providers.

Despite that, the law council twice denied him extended time on the LSAT, additional breaks in between sections of the test and a quiet testing room, among other things, the Justice Department said in a statement.

The Law School Admission Council administers the LSAT, the standard admissions test used by most law schools.

"Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, national testing entities must ensure that the standardized tests they administer allow persons with disabilities to demonstrate their aptitude and abilities on tests rather than being placed at a disadvantage because of their disabilities," U.

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S. Attorney B. Todd Jones said in a statement.

As a result of the investigation, the government concluded that the student had submitted appropriate documentation to demonstrate his disabilities and that he was entitled to testing modifications. By not offering the modifications and accommodations to take the LSAT, the Law School Admission Council had violated the ADA, the Justice Department concluded.

The settlement agreement, dated Sept. 27, says the admission council disputes those conclusions and denies that it violated the ADA in its handling of the requests.

The student, whom the Justice Department did not identify, was diagnosed early in life with attention deficit disorder and a learning disability. He received testing accommodations throughout elementary school, secondary school and college. The College Board, another private testing organization, had granted him specific accommodations of extended time to take several national standardized tests, including the PSAT and SAT, and several Advanced Placement exams.

Joan Van Tol, corporate counsel for the Law School Admission Council in Newtown, Pa., declined to answer specific questions about the case. She did write in an email to the Pioneer Press that none of the council's policies or practices will change as a result of the settlement.

"LSAC's policies have been and will remain fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, as amended," she wrote.

Rick Macpherson, an attorney with the Minnesota Disability Law Center, said disability accommodation complaints against private testing entities are not uncommon.

"This is an ongoing problem that people with learning disabilities encounter with the testing organizations," he said.

Some cases settle and some go through litigation. Macpherson was the local counsel on a similar case against the Law School Admission Council that was filed in federal court in Minnesota in the spring and settled, with the council granting the requested accommodations.